£79,000 charity awards from Devonshire Freemasons announced following public vote.

Eight local charities have benefited from a series of special Community Awards from Devonshire Freemasons following an unprecedented public vote of 178,801 votes across England and Wales.

The Community Awards are a major part of Freemasonry’s 300th anniversary celebrations. The Masonic Charitable Foundation is distributing three million pounds to 300 charities across the country, with the public vote deciding on the range of Awards from £4,000 to £25,000.

The charities will be presented with their Awards at a special ceremony by the Provincial Grand Master R.W. Bro Ian Kingsbury from Devonshire Freemasons and the Masonic Charitable Foundation. Details to be confirmed.

The three million pound fund is being administered by the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which obtains all of its funding from Freemasons, their families and friends. It is estimated that half of Freemasonry’s total charitable expenditure of over £33m goes to charities that help people in communities across the country.

R.W. Bro Ian Kingsbury said:

“We are delighted to be able to celebrate three hundred years of Freemasonry by helping eight excellent local charities. We’ve been active in charity work for all that time, but this is the first occasion we’ve asked the public to help us decide how to spend our money. We are very pleased that so many people from took part in the vote.”